Pallet container

ABSTRACT

A pallet container for storing and for transporting liquid filling materials includes a base pallet, a lattice frame fastened thereon and made of metal bars, and a fabric cover suspended in the lattice frame for accommodating a liquid-tight inliner for receiving the liquid filling material. The fabric cover and the inliner with preassembled filling and removal fitting is provided in the delivery state as a separately premanufactured, flat-folded package in the form of a modular unit which can be exchanged only as a complete modular unit. To bring the pallet container into a use-ready state, the unfolded fabric cover is fastened by straps to the upper lattice frame, and the removal connection piece of the filling and removal fitting is fastened with an adapter plate to the lower area of the lattice frame by a snap/latching connection.

The present invention relates to a pallet container for storing and for transporting in particular aseptic liquid filling materials, with a base pallet, a lattice frame which is fastened thereon and made of welded metal bars, and a fabric bag or a fabric cover which is suspended in said lattice frame and in which a liquid-tight inliner composed of plastics film and/or metal foil for receiving the liquid filling material is arranged.

A pallet container of this type is already known, for example, from EP 2 149 508 B1. In said pallet container, the inner liquid-receiving inliner is designed so as to be exchangeable, for which purpose the outer fabric cover is provided with a large closable flap opening at the top. In order to exchange the inliner after single use, the entire used pallet container has to be transported empty back to a central processing point in order to be provided there with a new inliner. The upper flap of the fabric cover has to be opened in order to fit a new inliner. The new inliner has to be placed through the opening and fastened. The installation is complicated and labor-intensive; it can be carried out only by a correspondingly trained specialist. This is costly and awkward since the inner-side inliner disadvantageously cannot be processed at just any reconditioner. A further disadvantage of the known pallet container is that the inliner exhibits creases on being filled under pressure, and said creases can subsequently delay the emptying, in particular by the creases being able to block the opening of the removal connection piece.

It is the object of the present invention to propose a manageable and practicable solution which permits a simple and cost-effective exchange of the used inliners and, furthermore, avoids long transport distances since the exchange of the inliners can be carried out in situ at any reconditioner. A further object of the invention is focused on configuring the components of the pallet container in such a manner that, even during filling under pressure, the inliner does not exhibit any creases which can delay the emptying, in particular by being able to block the opening of the removal connection piece.

This object is achieved according to the characterizing features in that the outer fabric cover and the inner-side liquid-tight inliner composed of plastics film with preassembled filling and removal connection piece is provided as a separately premanufactured, flat-folded package in the delivery state in the form of a modular unit, and the outer fabric cover suspended in the lattice frame and the inner-side inliner are designed within the intended use thereof not to be separable from each other, but rather to be exchangeable only as a complete modular unit.

In the delivery state, the modular unit is made of outer fabric cover and liquid-tight inliner composed of plastics film and/or metal foil with fitted filling and removal fitting (sometimes also referred to in abbreviated form below as “removal fitting”), as a flat-folded package, has a folding area with dimensions which are somewhat smaller than the internal size within the lattice frame.

The liquid-tight inliner here is folded flat per se, specifically in such a manner that said inliner is unfolded uniformly outward during filling, and the filling is not obstructed or delayed. The folding turns out as follows:

The inliner, laid out flat, has a rectangular blank with an upper side and a lower side with two longer side edges and two short side edges to the front side and to the rear side. The side edges are welded to each other at the outer borders or outer edges thereof.

The inliner is provided centrally on the upper side thereof with a small, short degassing connection piece and on the lower side thereof with a larger filling and removal connecting piece (sometimes also referred to in abbreviated form below as “removal connection piece”) which is arranged close to the front-side, short side border of the inliner. In a first step, the corners of the inliner are in each case folded to the center toward the small degassing connection piece arranged there, and therefore a narrow web running transversely with respect to the long side edges remains. In a second step, the two outer edges of the narrow web are folded over a short distance toward the center in the direction of the central degassing connection piece, thus resulting in an approximately diamond-shaped shape with a front-side and a rear-side point, wherein the filling and removal connection piece sits on the lower side of the front-side diamond point. In a further step the two front borders, which have just been folded in, of the narrow web are folded in once again over a further short distance toward the center, and, in the last step of the inliner folding, the front-side and the rear-side diamond points are likewise folded toward the center and held tight against the central degassing connection piece, and therefore the basic area of the ready-folded-up inliner now has a final folding area with dimensions which are somewhat smaller than the internal size within the lattice frame, wherein the filling and removal connection piece is folded onto the upper side of the inliner and sits tight against the front-side border of the folded-up inliner. Subsequently, the folded-up inliner is placed onto a thin base plate and fixed thereon.

In the case of the modular unit, the fabric cover per se is folded in only in the side walls thereof, wherein the inner, ready-folded inliner together with the fitted removal fitting within the fabric cover is free from any fixing or fastening to the fabric cover.

Constructionally, the modular unit has a special characteristic to the effect that a thin, stiff base plate on which the inliner is fixed is arranged within the fabric cover below the inliner, wherein the base plate is not fastened to the fabric cover.

In a refinement of the invention, the thin base plate is designed so as to be extended on the front side beyond the internal size within the lattice frame, and said extension is connected to the base plate via a film hinge in the manner of a buckling fold. Furthermore, here, an opening is provided centrally in the extension, through which the filling and removal connection piece of the inliner with filling and removal fitting attached on the outside is inserted and fastened from the outside.

In the flat-folded-in delivery state of the modular unit, the extension with filling and removal fitting attached is laid back or folded back flat onto the folded-in inliner.

The delivered, folded-up modular unit can now be inserted into a pallet cage at any reconditioner by any employee not particularly trained for this purpose. For this purpose, the outer fabric cover is first of all simply suspended in the corners of the lattice frame by four fastening loops; the vertically folded extension with removal fitting is then folded upward and fastened to the metal bars of the lattice frame.

In the inserted state of the modular unit, the outer fabric cover is stretched and fixed in the lattice frame, wherein the extension of the base plate is folded upward by 90° into the perpendicular and is fastened to the front side of the lattice frame by means of an adapter plate reaching behind the removal fitting. The folded-in inliner then subsequently automatically unfolds during the filling.

The used pallet container is therefore equipped again with a new fabric cover and an aseptic inliner and can be dispatched to the customers or filling companies. At the customers, said pallet containers with flexible covers can be filled precisely using the same filling clamps as are provided for the stainless steel intermediate bulk containers previously used.

When such stainless steel bulk containers are filled, the filling material generally flows in under high pressure via a filling pipe connected to the base-side filling fitting. Owing to the fact that the inliner of the pallet container according to the invention is fixed in a sheet-like manner on the thin base plate, it is ensured that, during filling of the inliner, which takes place at high pressure, no creases can form in the base surface of the inliner, which creases can subsequently be positioned in front of the base-side removal opening and block the latter during removal with powerful extraction of the filling material by suction.

In addition, the pallet container according to the invention is equipped with a residue emptying aid which prevents, during emptying, creases of the inliner, which collapses successively during the emptying process, from blocking the opening of the filling and removal connection piece.

The invention is explained and described in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments which are illustrated schematically in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows, in an overall view, a pallet container according to the invention with suspended fabric cover and exchangeable inliner,

FIG. 2 shows a pallet container according to the invention with suspended fabric cover and cut-open illustration of the thin-walled inliner,

FIG. 3 shows, in a partial view, the connection of the adapter plate with the removal fitting to the lattice frame of the pallet container,

FIG. 4 shows, in top view, the upper side of the pallet container according to the invention,

FIG. 5 shows the sequence of steps of the folding-in according to the invention of the thin-walled inliner,

FIG. 6 shows, in a perspective illustration, a tubular residue emptying aid,

FIG. 7 shows, in a side view, the residue emptying aid according to FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 illustrates a pallet container 10 according to the invention with base pallet 12, lattice frame 14 and suspended fabric cover 16 with inner-side inliner 17.

FIG. 2 illustrates the constructional design of the pallet container 10 according to the invention. The pallet container 10 according to the invention is formed as follows:

The lattice frame 14 with the fixedly connected base pallet 12 thereof serves for load and transport handling. It can be lifted and transported by industrial trucks and has already been tried and tested as a standard IBC with a polyethylene bubble. The fabric cover 16 with internal inliner 17 is defined as an exchangeable modular unit. The modular unit fulfills two tasks. Firstly, the static and dynamic forces which occur are absorbed by the strength and elasticity of the outer fabric cover 16 and, secondly, the inner-side inliner 17 serves for the gas and liquid tightness of the entire container. The fabric cover 16 is stretched in the lattice frame 14 by the four straps 40. In the unfilled state, the inliner 17 lies on the base of the fabric cover 16 and does not have any filling volume in this state. The inliner 17 has a special folding configuration and is fixed on a base plate 20. The latter is located under the inliner 17 and also in front of the inliner 17 in the valve region. The base plate 20 is not fixed in the fabric cover 16. It is merely positioned over the basic area and the adapter plate 34. The function of the base plate 20 also includes protecting the inliner 17 against the penetration of sharp objects from below, and the horizontal support at high filling speeds. The access to the internal volume of the inliner 17 takes place via the filling and removal fitting 30, wherein the volume of the inliner 17 corresponds to zero in the unfilled state and to that of the filling material in the filled state. The volume of the inliner 17 is limited by that of the fabric cover 16. Optionally, a degassing connection piece 32 can be attached on the upper side of the inliner 17. If the filling material is intended to be agitated by a gas prior to removal, the quantity of gas which exceeds the volume of the fabric cover 16 has to be let out via the degassing connection piece 32. For this purpose, as irreversible access 38, the viewing window 36 is opened or cut open and a sterile filter is screwed onto the degassing connection piece 32. The filling and removal connection piece 28 is fixed on the lattice frame 14 by the adapter plate 34. The adapter plate 34 ensures the necessary distance of the filling and removal nozzle 28 by means of a trough which springs back. Said filling and removal connection piece must not protrude beyond the projection area of the lattice frame 14. The adapter plate 34 permits an easy connection of the filling and removal fitting 30 to filling and emptying installations. Commercially customary filling cannons can be connected directly by means of the geometry thereof to the filling and removal fitting 30. The inliner 17 stands up by itself during the filling. A manipulation from the outside by the filler is neither required nor desired nor possible through the closed fabric cover 16.

The partial view of the pallet container with lattice frame 14, base pallet 12 and suspended fabric cover 16 in FIG. 3 shows the filling and removal fitting 30 with adapter plate 34. The adapter plate 34 has a trough toward the inside and therefore ensures the necessary positioning of the filling and removal connection piece 28 with attached filling and removal fitting 30 such that the latter does not protrude outward beyond the projection area of the lattice frame 14.

FIG. 4 shows the upper side of the pallet container 10 according to the invention. A clear viewing pane is firmly incorporated into the fabric cover 16 as a closed viewing window 36. It serves for visual inspection of the filling level. FIG. 4 shows this viewing window 36 with inserted degassing connection piece 32. Such a connection piece is required if the filling material is intended to be agitated by a gas prior to removal. The introduction of an opening for access to the degassing connection piece 32 is irreversible since the viewing window 36 is not designed to be recloseable, but rather has to be pierced or cut open in order to introduce the opening for access to the degassing connection piece 32.

FIG. 5 illustrates the individual steps for folding the inliner 17 according to the invention.

The inliner 17, laid out flat, has a rectangular blank with an upper side and a lower side with two longer side edges and two short side edges to the front side and to the rear side which are welded to one another at the outer borders or outer edges thereof. The inliner 17 is provided centrally on the upper side thereof with a small, short degassing connection piece 32 and on the lower side thereof with a larger filling and removal connection piece 28 which is arranged close to the front-side, short side border of the inliner 17.

As long as the pallet container 10 is not yet filled, i.e. is still in the empty state, the inliner 17, folded in flat in a special folding configuration in the fabric cover 16 suspended in the lattice frame 14 of the pallet container 10, lies directly on the upper deck of the base pallet 12. The inliner 17 is fastened here to the lattice frame 14 of the pallet container 10 only by means of an adapter plate 34 via the removal connection piece 20. The inliner 17 is filled at the filler only through the filling and removal fitting 30 attached to the removal connection piece 20 and, after transport to a customer, is emptied there again through the removal fitting 22.

For automatic unfolding of the inliner 17 during the filling of the pallet container 10, the inliner 17 is specially folded and structurally designed:

When the inliner 17 is laid out flat, in the first step, according to FIG. 5, the corners of the inliner 17 are in each case folded to the center toward the small, short degassing connection piece 32 arranged there, and therefore a narrow web running transversely with respect to the long side edges remains. In the second step, the two outer edges of the narrow web are folded over a short distance toward the center in the direction of the central degassing connection piece 32, thus resulting in an approximately diamond-shaped shape with a front-side and a rear-side point. The removal connection piece 20 now sits here on the lower side of the front-side diamond point. The two side borders, which have just been folded in, of the narrow web are then folded in once again over a further short distance toward the center. In the last step of the inliner folding, the front-side and the rear-side diamond points are likewise folded in toward the center until tight against the central degassing connection piece 32, and therefore the basic area of the ready-folded-up inliner 17 has a final folding area with dimensions which are somewhat smaller than the internal size within the lattice frame 14. The removal connection piece 20 has now been folded onto the upper side of the inliner 17 and sits tightly against the front-side border of the folded-up inliner 17.

In the following step, the folded-up inliner 17 is placed onto a thin base plate 20 and fixed thereon. The thin base plate 20 can be made, for example, of thin sheet metal, of paper board, of wood, of a hardboard or, preferably, of plastic. The fixing of the inliner 17 on the base plate 20 can be realized by an adhesive applied in a sheet-like manner or preferably simply by means of double-sided adhesive tape 25.

To substantially increase the stability or to stabilize the inliner 17, which is not connected (fixed) to the outer fabric cover 16, within the lattice frame 14 the thin base plate 20 is designed so as to be extended on the front side beyond the internal size within the lattice frame 14, wherein said extension 22 is connected to the base plate 20 via a film hinge 24 in the manner of a buckling fold. An opening 26 through which the removal connection piece 20 of the inliner 17 is inserted on the outside is provided centrally in the extension 22. In the flat-folded-in delivery state of the modular unit, made of fabric cover 16 and inserted inliner 17, the extension 22 with attached removal fitting 22 is laid back or folded back flat onto the folded-in inliner 17.

In the inserted state of the modular unit, the outer fabric cover 16 is stretched and fixed in the lattice frame 14, wherein the extension 22 of the base plate 20 is folded upward by 90 degrees into the vertical and is fastened to the front side of the lattice frame 14 by means of an adapter plate 34 reaching behind the removal fitting 22.

FIG. 6 shows a tubular residue emptying aid in a perspective illustration, and FIG. 7 shows the side view of the residual emptying aid.

For optimum functioning of the pallet container 10 according to the invention with inserted modular unit when filling and unfolding the inliner 17 in the filling plant at a filling company and when extracting the liquid filling material by suction at the customer (=emptier), the inliner (17) is equipped on the inside upstream of the opening of the base-side removal connection piece (28) with a particular means for the improved residue emptying of the filling material. Said means for the improved residue emptying of the filling material is made of a short tubular residue emptying aid 42 which is designed as a flexible corrugated pipe 44 which is composed of thin plastics material and has a multiplicity of lateral bores 46, as illustrated in FIG. 7. The thin-walled corrugated pipe 44 has a wall thickness of approx. 1 mm, a length of approximately 300 to 500 mm, preferably approx. 400 mm, and a diameter of approx. 35-57 mm, suitable for a 2 inch connection piece. Said corrugated pipe is inserted through the filling and removal connection piece 28 into the inliner 17 and is firmly screwed with the filling and removal fitting 30 on the filling and removal connection piece 28 of the inliner 17.

As becomes clear in FIG. 6, the lateral bores 46 are introduced into the corrugated pipe 44 from four directions, and therefore a row of bores 46 is always located just above the inliner base. It is thereby ensured that even very small quantities of residual liquid can still be sucked out of the inliner 17 without there being the risk of the film or foil of the inliner 17 being able to pull in front of the opening of the removal connection piece because of the powerful negative suction pressure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

-   10—Pallet container -   12—Base pallet -   14—Lattice frame -   16—Fabric cover -   17—Inliner -   18—Inliner with special folding configuration -   20—Base plate -   22—Extension of the base plate (20) -   24—Film hinge -   25—Double-sided adhesive tape -   26—Opening in (22) -   27—Inliner folded and fixed on base plate (20) -   28—Filling and removal connection piece -   30—Filling and removal fitting -   32—Degassing connection piece -   34—Adapter plate -   36—Closed viewing window -   38—Irreversible access through the viewing window -   40—Strap for tensioning the fabric cover (16) -   42—Tubular residue emptying aid -   44—Flexible corrugated pipe -   46—Lateral bores -   48—Flange border end 

What is claimed is: 1.-19. (canceled)
 20. A pallet container for storing and transporting an aseptic liquid filling material, comprising: a base pallet; a lattice frame fastened on the base pallet and including metal bars; and a modular unit exchangeable only as a unit and comprising an outer fabric cover which is suspended in the lattice frame and has upper corners fixed to an upper area of the upper lattice frame, a liquid-tight inliner which is placed in the fabric cover without being fixed thereto and composed of a plastics film and/or metal foil for receiving the liquid filling material and which has a filling and removal connection piece, a filling and removal fitting which is preassembled on the filling and removal connection piece of the inliner and fixed centrally to a lower area of the lattice frame, and a thin, stiff base plate which is arranged within the fabric cover and on which the folded inliner together with the filling and removal fitting is fixed, said modular unit, before being suspended via the fabric cover in the lattice frame, having a folded configuration of a dimension which is smaller than an internal size within the lattice frame, with the inliner defining, when folded, a basic area of a dimension which is smaller than the internal size within the lattice frame, with the filling and removal connection piece disposed on an upper side of the inliner in immediate proximity to a front-side border of the folded inliner.
 21. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the inliner is rectangular in shape.
 22. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the base plate is connected on a front side thereof in a manner of a buckling fold via a film hinge to an extension which is sized to extend beyond the internal size within the lattice frame.
 23. The pallet container of claim 22, wherein the extension has a central opening for passage of the filling and removal connection piece of the inliner with attached filling and removal fitting which is fastened from the outside.
 24. The pallet container of claim 22, wherein the extension, in a delivery state of the modular unit, is folded back flatly onto the folded inliner.
 25. The pallet container of claim 22, wherein the fabric cover is stretched and fixed in the lattice frame, when being suspended in the lattice frame, said extension being folded upward by 90° to assume a vertical position, said modular unit including an adapter plate sized to reach behind the filling and removal fitting and provided to fasten the extension to a front side of the lattice frame.
 26. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the inliner, when being laid out flat, is rectangular in shape and has an upper side and a lower side with two longer side edges and two short side edges to a front side and to a rear side, and further comprising a degassing connection piece provided centrally on the upper side of the inliner, said filling and removal connection piece being larger in size than the degassing connection piece and arranged in close proximity to the front-side, short side edge of the inliner, said inliner being obtained by folding, in a first step, corners of the inliner to a center toward the degassing connection piece, while leaving a narrow web transversely with respect to the long side edges, folding, in a second step, two outer edges of the narrow web by a short distance toward the center in a direction of the degassing connection piece to produce an approximately diamond-shaped form with front-side and rear-side diamond points, with the filling and removal connection piece placed on a lower side of the front-side diamond point, folding, in a third step, two side borders of the narrow web by a short distance toward the center, and folding, in a fourth step, the front-side and rear-side diamond points toward the center until being in close proximity of the degassing connection piece so as to form the basic area of the folded inliner.
 27. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the inliner is fixed on the base plate by an adhesive applied in a sheet-like manner.
 28. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the inliner is fixed on the base plate by double-sided adhesive tape.
 29. The pallet container of claim 20, wherein the fabric cover has a transparent clear viewing pane as a viewing window.
 30. The pallet container of claim 29, wherein the transparent clear viewing pane is arranged centrally in the fabric cover.
 31. The pallet container of claim 20, further comprising a closable degassing connection piece fixedly incorporated in the inliner.
 32. The pallet container of claim 31, wherein the degassing connection piece is fixedly incorporated centrally in the inliner.
 33. The pallet container of claim 20, further comprising means for improved residue emptying of the filling material arranged on an inner side of the inliner anteriorly of an opening in the filling and removal connection piece.
 34. The pallet container of claim 33, wherein the means for improved residue emptying of the filling material is a flexible corrugated pipe made of thin plastics material and having a multiplicity of lateral bores.
 35. The pallet container of claim 34, wherein the corrugated pipe has a flange border end which, in a fitted state, is clamped between the filling and removal connection piece and attached filling and removal fitting.
 36. A method for folding an inliner for automatic unfolding of the inliner during filling of a pallet container through a base-side filling and removal connection piece, comprising: laying out flat a rectangular blank with an upper side and a lower side with two longer side edges and two short side edges to a front side and to a rear side; folding corners of the blank to a center toward a short degassing connection piece arranged there while leaving a narrow web transversely with respect to the long side edges; folding two outer edges of the narrow web by a short distance toward the center in a direction of the degassing connection piece to produce an approximately diamond-shaped form with front-side and rear-side diamond points, with the filling and removal connection piece placed on a lower side of the front-side diamond point; folding two side borders of the narrow web by a short distance toward the center; and folding the front-side and rear-side diamond points toward the center until being in close proximity of the degassing connection piece so as to produce an inliner with a basic area defined by a final folding area of a dimension which is smaller than an internal size within a lattice frame, with the filling and removal connection piece being folded onto an upper side of the inliner and placed in close proximity of a front-side border of the inliner.
 37. The method of claim 36, further comprising placing the inliner onto a thin base plate and fixing the inliner on the base plate. 